SIT STILL
BREAD
35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35 (NIV)
7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. 8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret–it leads only to evil. Psalm 37:7-8 (NIV)
10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Psalm 46:10-11 (NIV)
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Psalm 1:1-3 (NIV)
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. Psalm 23:1-3 (NIV)
17 “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)
14 The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Exodus 33:14 (NIV)
8 I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure. Psalm 16:8-9 (NIV)
1 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. 2 He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. Psalm 62:1-2 (NIV)
12 “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” Deuteronomy 33:12 (NIV)
5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. Psalm 62:5 (NIV)
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. Psalm 91:1-4 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Be still my soul, the Lord is on thy side.” Katharina von Schlegel
“I am the author of your life who can rewrite and transform any tragedy to triumph. I am the one who will work all things together for your good even when it appears all has gone bad. When you don’t know what to do, be still long enough to allow Me to calm the storm in your heart and part the sea that seems to lie in the way of My promises for you. If you will wait on Me, you will witness My wonders!” Sheri Rose Shepherd
“Those who seek to be still and quiet will find a beautiful portal through which God’s voice of love can be heard in a world that drowns it in interference. After all, it’s God who said, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ It seems evident that that knowing is connected to being still. So we can be still and know that God is God or stay very busy and wonder if we are.” Nicole Johnson
“You have to make time to be still — in order to make a life.” Ann Voskamp
“Wait upon Me. Let your life be as a deep, quiet pool. Let your heart rest in My hand as a bird in a nest. Let your eyes be still. Let your hands be free. For then I shall fill all your vision, and then I shall take your hands into Mine and My power shall flow forth into you….Only be still before Me. Never let the toils and cares of the day rob you of this sweet fellowship with Me….I am actively engaged in working for you in ways you cannot see, to make your path clear, and to bring about things you could never accomplish, and which would otherwise absorb your energies and wear out your patience….O Lord, what shame that You should need to beg us thus! Better that others might find us unavailable because of our occupation with You, rather than for us to be so slow to come, so dull to hear, so cold of heart, so indolent of soul….Grant this one prayer more, O Lord, that You would give us all that is lacking in us; intensify our hunger and fire our devotion; take the indifference from our spirits; and have within us Your wonderful way and perfect will, O God, we pray. Amen.” Frances J. Roberts
“There is a stillness that comes after the fire, a period that stretches longer than we’d like with nothing happening on the surface. It was a sanctifying, all-consuming flame, intentionally set and controlled by His hands of grace but a fire nonetheless. And what came after was fallowness — a season to rest and reset, to be replenished and renourished. But I was so used to having my hand at the plow, my knees dirty from the work, that I didn’t know how to do nothing. I didn’t know how to have room in my life, to hold space and emptiness and be still in the quiet of not being rushed. I hadn’t learned to rest while in the wilderness season before, so preoccupied with simply making it to the next day. I became bewildered by the lack of momentum in my life. I didn’t know what to do with my arms and hands. They felt awkward and unsure of themselves. I didn’t know if I should raise them in praise for the rest I was to enjoy or move them at twice the speed to be productive. But every attempt to start cultivating anything felt like striving, like Adam toiling away at the land after it had been cursed. But the lack of cultivation in my life wasn’t a curse; it was meant to be a blessing. But God was inviting me to watch His ways and learn from Him, to sit and see what He could do out of the ashes left from the fire. And like a gentle mother, He pried my fingers off the plow. It wasn’t mine to hold anymore. He whispered to my soul that fallow seasons aren’t meant for hurry. They’re meant to undo the hardwired muscle memory of labor, to reorient our bodies, minds, and souls to the unrushed pace of God. They’re meant to teach us to dance to the unforced rhythm of grace. Fallow seasons are meant to bring life in a way it hadn’t been before. They aren’t seasons of death though it may look like it on the surface for a moment. Instead, they are the transition period between death and new life, between ashes and beauty. The transition is slow. When all the sanctifying of my character and the healing of old wounds in the wilderness season didn’t magically turn into blossoms, my impatient self was confused. I expected it to be more like a time-lapsed video where a seed sprouts into a flower in just a couple of minutes. But God has the clarity of seeing things from eternity to eternity. He is not bound by time, and so He is patient. He is never annoyed with the slowness of transformation but always delights in the intricate care of redeeming burned things. And He is not done with us in the midst of fallow seasons. We are the land being cultivated. We are the farmer, sitting and watching His grace do its work. We are the wildflowers that will bloom. We are all these things, but we are not the sower. God is the one who does the work of cultivation. He is the Good Sower — not of plants grown in perfect rows or roses that grow in neat flower beds. He is a Sower who flings the seeds of wildflowers into the field, cares for them, and delights in their unpredictable beauty. He is the one who invites us to rest as He does the work and to wait in peaceful expectation for what’s to come. He burns away the old with fire and cultivates the land for the new things He is doing in our lives, allowing light and water to reach down deep, awakening and breaking open the seeds that have laid dormant before to thrive in the soil He has made good. What will come is a mystery, and we gain nothing when we rush into seasons we’re not ready for. So sit with Him, rest with Him, watch Him do His good and holy work while the land still lies fallow.” Grace P. Cho
“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away your ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” Corrie ten Boom
“Oh, how great peace and quietness would he possess who should cut off all vain anxiety and place all his confidence in God.” Thomas a Kempis
“If we do not have quiet in our minds, outward comfort will do no more for us than a golden slipper on a gouty foot.” John Bunyan
“Wait upon Me. Let your life be as a deep, quiet pool. Let your heart rest in My hand as a bird in a nest. Let your eyes be still. Let your hands be free. For then I shall fill all your vision, and then I shall take your hands into Mine and My power shall flow forth into you….Only be still before Me. Never let the toils and cares of the day rob you of this sweet fellowship with Me….I am actively engaged in working for you in ways you cannot see, to make your path clear, and to bring about things you could never accomplish, and which would otherwise absorb your energies and wear out your patience….O Lord, what shame that You should need to beg us thus! Better that others might find us unavailable because of our occupation with You, rather than for us to be so slow to come, so dull to hear, so cold of heart, so indolent of soul….Grant this one prayer more, O Lord, that You would give us all that is lacking in us; intensify our hunger and fire our devotion; take the indifference from our spirits; and have within us Your wonderful way and perfect will, O God, we pray. Amen.” Frances J. Roberts
HEART SAVOR
• Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.
• Quietness and stillness before Him will fill you with great comfort and peace. He is the Ultimate “Paraklesis” – Encourager and Strengthener.
• The Lord is with you, He is mighty to save – both your soul and in your circumstances.
Beth Yoe's Sharing Bread 